March 6
Events *1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. *1447 - Nicholas V becomes Pope. *1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledged allegiance to Casimir IV of Poland, and the Polish king agreed to help in their struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights. *1479 - Treaty of Alcaçovas - Portugal gives the Canary Islands to Castile in exchange for claims in West Africa. *1521 - Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam. *1788 - The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement. *1820 - The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, but makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free. *1834 - York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto. *1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo - After a 13-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort taken. *1853 - The Giuseppe Verdi opera La Traviata premieres in Venice. *1856 - The University of Maryland is chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College. *1857 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case. *1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society. *1899 - Bayer registers aspirin as a trademark. *1900 - A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners. *1901 - In Bremen an assassin attempts to kill Wilhelm II of Germany. *1902 - The Spanish football club Real Madrid is founded. *1921 - The Portuguese Communist Party is founded as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International. *1925 - Pionerskaya Pravda, one of the oldest children's newspapers in Europe, is founded. * 1925 - Belgium annexes Eupen, Malmedy, and Sankt Vith. *1927 - Fritz Lang's Metropolis is released. *1940 - Winter War: An armistice is signed by Finland and the Soviet Union. *1945 - A communist-dominated government under Petru Groza assumes power in Romania. *1946 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union. *1948 - USS Newport News, the first air-conditioned naval ship, is launched from Newport News. *1951 - The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins. *1953 - Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Josef Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. *1957 - United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana. * 1957 - Israel withdraws its troops from the Sinai Peninsula. *1964 - Prophet Elijah Muhammad officially gives Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali meaning "beloved of Allah". * 1964 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece. * 1964 - Tom O'Hara sets a new world record for the indoor mile run by completing it in 3 minutes, 56.4 seconds. *1970 - Suspected murderer Charles Manson releases *1975 - Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement over their border dispute. *1981 - After 19 years presenting the ''CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time. *1983 - The United States Football League begins its first year of competition. *1984 - Twelve-month-long strike in British coal industry begins. *1987 - The British ferry [[Wikipedia:M/S Herald of Free Enterprise|M/S Herald of Free Enterprise]] capsizes in about 90 seconds killing 193. *1988 - Students at Gallaudet University go on strike in favor of the selection of a deaf university president. The protest is called Deaf President Now. *1992 - The Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers. * 1992 - Founding of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. *1994 - Referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania. *1997 - Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later. *2006 - South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signs a bill into legislation that would ban most abortions in the state. *2007 - Former White House aide I. Lewis Libby was found guilty on four of five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice trial. * 2007 - United States lottery Mega Millions set a new world record for the highest jackpot ever offered of US$390 million. Births *1340 - John of Gaunt (d. 1399) *1405 - King John II of Castile (d. 1454) *1459 - Jacob Fugger, German banker (d. 1525) *1475 - Michelangelo, Italian artist (d. 1564) *1483 - Francesco Guicciardini, Italian statesman and historian (d. 1540) *1495 - Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet (d. 1556) *1619 - Cyrano de Bergerac, French soldier, poet (d. 1655) *1663 - Francis Atterbury, British man of letters (d. 1732) *1706 - George Pocock, British admiral (d. 1792) *1716 - Pehr Kalm, Swedish explorer and naturalist (d. 1779) *1761 - Antoine-Francois Andreossy, French General (d. 1828) *1779 - Antoine-Henri Jomini, French general (d. 1869) *1787 - Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist (d. 1826) *1806 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, British poet (d. 1861) *1812 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison American watch manufacturer (d. 1895) *1817 - Princess Clémentine of Orléans (d. 1907) *1831 - Philip Sheridan, American Civil War Union cavalry officer (d. 1888) *1834 - George du Maurier British illustrator and writer (d. 1896) *1870 - Oscar Straus, Viennese operetta composer (d. 1954) *1882 - F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect (d. 1980) *1885 - Ring Lardner, American writer (d. 1933) *1899 - Furry Lewis, American blues guitarist (d. 1981) *1903 - Empress Kōjun of Japan (d. 2000) *1904 - Joseph Schmidt, Austrian tenor (d. 1942) * 1904 - José Antonio Aguirre, Basque politician (d. 1960) *1905 - Bob Wills, American singer (d. 1975) *1906 - Lou Costello, American actor comedian (d. 1959) *1914 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (d. 1981) *1915 - Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, Bohra spiritual leader * 1915 - Pete Gray, American baseball player (d. 2002) *1917 - Will Eisner, American illustrator and cartoonist (d. 2005) * 1917 - Frankie Howerd, English comedian (d. 1992) *1919 - Maurice Grosse, British paranormal investigator (d. 2006) *1923 - Ed McMahon, American television personality *1925 - Wes Montgomery, American musician (d. 1968) *1926 - Alan Greenspan, American economist * 1926 - Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director *1927 - Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian writer, Nobel Prize laureate * 1927 - Gordon Cooper, astronaut (d. 2004) * 1927 - Norman Treigle, American bass-baritone (d. 1975) *1930 - Lorin Maazel, French-born American conductor *1931 - Hal Needham, American stuntman *1933 - Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (d. 2004) *1934 - John Noakes, British television presenter *1935 - Ron Delany, Irish athlete *1936 - Marion Barry Jr., American politician * 1936 - Jean Boht, English actress *1937 - Ivan Boesky, American stock trader * 1937 - Valentina Tereshkova, cosmonaut *1939 - Adam Osborne, British author and computer designer (d. 2003) * 1939 - Infanta Margarita of Spain, duchess of Soria *1939 - Cookie Rojas, baseball player *1940 - Willie Stargell, baseball player (d. 2001) *1942 - Ben Murphy, American actor *1944 - Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand singer * 1944 - Mary Wilson, American singer (Supremes) *1946 - David Gilmour, British musician (Pink Floyd) *1947 - Kiki Dee, British singer * 1947 - Dick Fosbury, American athlete * 1947 - Martin Kove, American actor * 1947 - Teru Miyamoto, Japanese author * 1947 - Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, and film producer *1949 - Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan * 1949 - Martin Buchan, Scottish footballer *1951 - Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch cyclist (d. 2004) *1953 - Jan Kjærstad, Norwegian author * 1953 - Jacklyn Zeman, American actress *1955 - Alberta Watson, Canadian actress *1958 - Eddie Deezen, American actor *1959 - Saul Anuzis, American politician * 1959 - Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian *1962 - Valerie French, American animatronics art director *1963 - D.L. Hughley, American comedian and actor *1964 - Madonna Wayne Gacy, American musician *1966 - Alan Davies, British comedian and actor *1968 - Moira Kelly, American actress * 1968 - Michael Romeo, American musician *1969 - Andrea Elson, American actress * 1969 - Tari Phillips, American basketball player * 1969 - Greg Scott, British TV personality *1970 - Shane Brolly, British actor *1971 - Sean Morley, American professional wrestler * 1971 - Darrick Martin, American basketball player *1972 - Terry Murphy, Northern Irish snooker player *1972 - Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player *1973 - Michael Finley, American basketball player *1974 - Sebastian Siegel, British-American actor *1975 - Aracely Arambula, Mexican actress and singer *1976 - Ken Anderson, American professional wrestler *1977 - Giorgos Karagounis, Greek footballer *1979 - Tim Howard, American soccer player * 1979 - David Flair, American professional wrestler * 1979 - Erik Bedard, Canadian baseball player * 1979 - Ryan Nyquist, American BMX rider *1980 - Ross Mawhinney, British-born Italian radio DJ *1981 - Ellen Muth, American actress *1983 - Andranik Teymourian, Iranian footballer *1985 - Albert Reed, American model *1992 - Momoko Tsugunaga, Japanese singer *1996 - Savanah Stehlin, American actress Deaths * 766 - Chrodegang of Metz, Frankish bishop of Metz *1252 - Saint Rose of Viterbo, Italian saint (b. 1235) *1490 - Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (b. 1458) *1531 - Pedrarias Dávila, Spanish conquistador *1627 - Krzysztof Zbaraski, Polish statesman (b. 1580) *1754 - Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1694) *1758 - Henry Vane, English politician (b. 1705) *1764 - Philip Yorke, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1690) *1796 - Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (b. 1713) *1836 - Davy Crockett, American frontiersman (b. 1786) * 1836 - William B. Travis, American lawyer and soldier (b. 1809) * 1836 - Jim Bowie, American pioneer and soldier (b. 1796) *1842 - Constanze Mozart, wife of W.A. Mozart (b. 1763) *1854 - Charles William Vane, British soldier and politician (b. 1778) *1860 - Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (b. 1783) *1866 - William Whewell, English scientist, philosopher, and historian of science (b. 1794) *1888 - Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (b. 1832) *1895 - Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer and feminist (b. 1813) *1899 - Victoria Kaiulani, Hawaiian princess (b. 1875) *1900 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and industrialist (b. 1834) *1905 - John Henninger Reagan, American Confederate politician (b. 1818) *1932 - John Philip Sousa, American band leader, conductor, and composer (b. 1854) *1933 - Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1873) *1935 - Fridolf Rhudin Swedish actor and comedian (b. 1895) *1939 - Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician (b. 1852) *1941 - Gutzon Borglum, Danish sculptor (b. 1867) *1948 - Ross Lockridge, American novelist (b. 1914) *1950 - Albert Lebrun, President of France (b. 1871) *1951 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor, musician, and composer (b. 1893) * 1951 - Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian politician and statesman (b. 1880) *1952 - Jürgen Stroop, Nazi SS-leader (executed) (b. 1895) *1961 - George Formby, British comedian and singer (b. 1904) *1964 - King Paul of Greece (b. 1901) *1965 - Margaret Dumont, American actress (b. 1889) *1967 - John Haden Badley, English author and educator (b. 1865) * 1967 - Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (b. 1901) * 1967 - Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (b. 1882) *1969 - Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (b. 1952) *1970 - William Hopper, American actor (b. 1915) *1971 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (b. 1921) *1973 - Pearl S. Buck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892) *1976 - Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, American boxer and actor (b. 1903) *1981 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893) *1982 - Ayn Rand, Russian-American author (b. 1905) *1985 - Henry Wilcoxon, Dominican actor (b. 1905) *1986 - Georgia O'Keeffe, American artist (b. 1887) *1994 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, political activist, and politician (b. 1920) *1997 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (b. 1918) * 1997 - Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1924) *1998 - Frank Barrett, American baseball player (b. 1913) *1999 - Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, emir of Bahrain (b. 1933) * 1999 - Dennis Viollet, former footballer (b. 1933) *2000 - John Colicos, Canadian actor (b. 1928) *2001 - Kim Walker, American actress (b. 1968) *2002 - Bryan Fogarty, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1969) *2003 - John Sanford, American author (b. 1904) *2004 - Frances Dee, American actress (b. 1909) * 2004 - Ray Fernandez, American professional wrestler (b. 1957) *2005 - Hans Bethe, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906) * 2005 - Tommy Vance, British radio disc jockey (b. 1943) * 2005 - Danny Gardella, American baseball player (b. 1920) * 2005 - Teresa Wright, American actress (b. 1918) *2006 - King Floyd, American musician (b. 1945) * 2006 - Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (b. 1960) * 2006 - Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961) *2007 - Jean Baudrillard, French cultural theorist, philosopher, political commentator and photographer (b. 1929) * 2007 - Allen Coage (aka "Bad News Brown"), American professional wrestler and judoka (b. 1943) * 2007 - Ernest Gallo, American winemaker (b. 1909) Holidays and observances * Ghana - Independence Day (from Britain, 1957) * Alamo Day in Texas Liturgical feasts *Saint Chrodegang *Saint Fridolin *Saint Colette aka Saint Coleta of Ghent *Saint Olegarius *March 6 External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- March 06